"Current forecasts
predict an annual
growth rate of 25 percent for carbon nanotubes" said
Dr. Joachim Wolff, BMS Executive Committee member, said in a
statement. "We are also expecting nanotechnology to create
a total of 100,000 new jobs in the German industry in the medium
term."

The new facility is expected to produce 200 metric
tons of nanotubes each year.

There aren't many CNT
production facilities in the world, able to meet industrial-scale
CNTs -- and this plant will specialize in Baytubes.

Baytubes
are different because the modified carbon is able to be added
as a filler to help improve the mechanical strength to metal
systems. BMS offered an example of Baytubes being used in
coatings for ships, offering higher abrasion resistance to help
reduce wear over time.

The new Baytubes could also be used in
skis, surfboards, hockey sticks, bicycle components and similar
products.

Baytubes could be used in numerous ways in a
wide variety of industries, with BSN using "thermoplastic and
thermoset systems and coatings."

Nanocyl, a Belgian
biotech company specializing in nanotubes, is installing a reactor
that will be used in nanotube production -- overall product capacity
would be up to 400 tons per year.

Traditional multi-wall
nanotubes are comprised of rolled layers of graphite, with a small
number of carbon nanotube suppliers available. For the expected
growth nanotubes should receive in the coming years, there still
aren't a lot of manufacturers available.

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I'm no enviro-wacko, but I do think that these things should be considered.

BTW, do you have any supporting info to support your claims about asbestos miners living longer than the national average or did you just make that up?

quote: No one is going to die if they accidentally breathe in a few nanotubes. The risk factors here are incredibly low.

That's not how it works. The more these materials are used the more they'll be in the environment. It's not a matter of "accidentally breathing in a few nanotubes", it's more of a matter of limiting exposure to them. Even people who don't work with asbestos have millions of fibrils in their lungs, and the incidence of disease is proportional to the exposure.

I never make anything up. The actual study was quoted by Dr. Dixie Lee Ray, in at least two of her books. I don't have them here at work, but she gives a clear reference

BTW, neither me nor her means to suggest that asbestos was somehow increasing the miner's lifespan. Just that the very low risk from their exposure was more than compensated for by other factors in their lifestyle, such as receiving a lot of exercise. Also, the results don't apply to miners in crocidolite mines, a significantly more dangerous version of asbestos, but one that consitituted only about 5% of total asbestos mining.

The risk for people NOT working in a mine continually breathing in millions of fibers is vanishingly small. Yet asbestos lawsuits have cost the US alone a quarter of a TRILLION dollars, with no end in sight yet. There are literally thousands of mega-millionaire lawyers, all made rich from the asbestos windfall.

I agree with you about the lawyers blowing it out of proportion. It definitely has become a scam. When I bought my house I couldn't legally remove the asbestos tiles even though the asbestos was encapsulated in vinyl and not flying around like a powder.